Herizon Impact Newsletter 8/2024

We are excited to welcome you to the latest edition of the Herizon Impact Newsletter. Here, we share the strides we are making together in building a more diverse and inclusive Nordic tech ecosystem. Whether you are a talent seeking new opportunities, a company exploring the benefits of diversity, or a supporter of our mission, we are thrilled to have you with us on this journey.

In this issue, you'll find inspiring stories of success, updates on our latest initiatives, and insights into the ongoing challenges and opportunities within the industry. Thank you for being a part of this vibrant community, and for contributing to a future where everyone has a place in tech.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Community members: Now at 1012, up from 940 last month [Goal 2024: 2000]
Employed members: Reached 412, up from 389 last month
New jobs in 2024: 174 members have secured employment this year [Goal 2024: 200]
Economic impact:
- New jobs: Contributing to €522,000 in monthly salaries [Goal 2024: €600,000]
- Total employment: Contributing to €1.2 million in monthly salaries, up from €1.1 million

Read more about our goals

News

At Herizon, we're all about fostering a positive community and sharing the good vibes, so we asked international talents what they appreciate most about Finland, and their answers reflect a deep love for nature, safety, and work-life balance.

Check out what they had to say in our latest post:

We’re pleased to share that our founder, Mari, has been nominated for the Diversity Role Model of the Year at the Global Startup Awards. This nomination reflects the growing recognition of the need to empower women and underrepresented groups in the startup ecosystem.

At Herizon, we are committed to fostering inclusion, with over 400 immigrants employed as part of our mission to promote diversity. Mari’s efforts with icebreaker.vc have significantly increased the share of investments in startups with diverse founding teams, rising from 22.3% in Fund I to 40.7% in Fund II, even though these teams represent only 14% of the pipeline. Additionally, Mari has joined identity.vc, the first venture capital firm in Europe dedicated to investing in early-stage startups with LGBTQ+ leadership.

If you believe in the importance of this work, we would appreciate your support by voting for Mari.

Vote for Mari here

Employment

The job market for international talent is showing promising growth, with both small and large companies actively recruiting. While not all positions are advertised, our community members are securing jobs by maintaining strong LinkedIn profiles and actively networking. Visibility and connection-building are proving essential in landing these opportunities.

Recent placements: Our members have recently been hired by companies such as EY, Munchi, Wolt, Nordea, WithSecure, KONE, and AILiveSim. They’ve taken on diverse roles including Recruiter, Designer, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Marketing and Communications Manager, Operations Industrial Engineer, and Full-Stack Developer.

If you are looking for diverse talent, we encourage to try our success-fee based headhunting service: https://business.herizon.io/headhunting/

Events and Community

August brought significant milestones for Herizon, including a 9% MoM growth and our LinkedIn Bootcamp Telegram group surpassing 800 members, with over 70 participants in the first session of the month.

We’ve also reached 1,000 competency-mapped community members in our CRM, strengthening our ability to connect the right talent with the right opportunities.

Looking ahead, along with our weekly activities for the community members, we’re preparing for several exciting events, including company visits and collaborative projects:

Weekly co-working hours: Continuing until late December.
Finnish speaking sessions: Continuing until late December.
Online networking and co-working coffee: Weekly sessions to facilitate connections.
Company visits: New company visits have been booked including Elisa Polystar.

If you know international talents that would benefit from our community support, feel free to share the link: https://herizon.io/talent/

Product

Talent Finder and Job Application Assistant: We’re rolling out significant improvements to our Talent Finder and Job Application Assistant based on user feedback. While Talent Finder remains an internal tool, it’s proving invaluable as we scale our success fee-based headhunting services, helping companies discover diverse talent efficiently.

Growth Hacking Internship UAS Program: Our next cohort launches in September, featuring a two-week "how to work" intensive course before students are matched with companies. We’re excited to welcome over 100 students from six Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) this fall. All pilot schools are continuing the program, and we’re in discussions for 2025, with 11 schools in our pipeline—covering 50% of UAS in Finland.

Expansion and quality ofcus: We’ve addressed bottlenecks identified during pilot programs by enhancing our quality management processes. This includes the hiring of Senior Admin and People Coordinator Daria Galina, who has significantly improved our program standards.

First hire after UAS GHI program: We’re proud to share that the first participant from our Growth Hacking Internship UAS program has been successfully hired after completing their internship. We’re closely studying this success case to understand the key factors that contributed to their successful transition from intern to full-time employee to double down this impact.

Sharing Success Stories: We’re publishing multiple success stories from the UAS program on our blog in the coming weeks, highlighting the tangible achievements of our interns and the positive impact they’ve had on their host companies.

Success stories are available in our blog:

Looking ahead

The coming months are filled with exciting opportunities as we expand our programs, refine our processes, and forge new partnerships. We’re focused on scaling our impact, with upcoming events and collaborations designed to deepen connections and support our community’s growth.

As we continue to innovate and adapt, your support remains crucial in building a diverse and inclusive Nordic tech ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates and success stories as we work together to create lasting change.

Thank you for being a part of our journey. 💜

Warm regards, The Herizon Team